Klub Mefista

Product Information

Ms Gerritsen’s two female leads, Rizzoli and Isles, both have personal struggles in this book. Jane’s difficulties are with her family. While painful, there is also humor in the way the situation is presented. Maura’s struggles, as in Body Double, are with her feelings toward Father Daniel Brophy. Will she continue to avoid him? Can she? Can they find a way to be “just friends”? The sixth book in the Rizzoli & Isles series. I have enjoyed reading the books in this series but this is probably my least favorite. It was still an enjoyable read but it was too Dan Brownish. Too much demons / the devil, the bible, secret societies, etc. I understand how Jane Rizzoli felt in this story. It is Christmas Eve and both Jane Rizzoli and Maura Isles draw the short straws when they are called out to a brutal murder scene. Even the cops are stunned by the brutality. Lots of blood and body parts. PECCAVI ( I HAVE SINNED) is written in blood ... along with upside down crosses. And there is a link to Dr. Joyce O’Donnell, the celebrity psychiatrist and Rizzoli's nemesis. Naturally Dr. O’Donnell gives Jane a hard time and won't say where she was or who she was with at the time of the murder. Only that she was with friends. Turns out the friends were members of the Mephisto Club. Internationally bestselling author Tess Gerritsen took an unusual route to a writing career. A graduate of Stanford University, Tess went on to medical school at the University of California, San Francisco, where she was awarded her M.D. Homicide detective Jane Rizzoli and medical examiner Maura Isles are called to the scene of the brutal murder of a young woman. Strange symbols and a cryptic message are clues that lead them to an even stranger group of people who are members of the Mephisto Foundation, a group of scholars who believe in and study the history of evil. Even more disturbing is the discovery that Dr. Joyce O’Donnell is a member and evidence suggests the killer is somehow connected to her.

The Mephisto Club is a secret society that studies evil. Do demons walk among us? Does it have a physical presence? Using historical data and mysterious religious symbolism they aim to prove that Satan exists among us. Their leader, Anthony Sansone, is mysterious and wealthy. He also seems to have connections at very high levels. Jane has no choice but to work with him. Jane doesn't believe in demons, the devil, or symbology. As far as she is concerned the Mephisto Club is nothing more than an amateur crime fighting club. Maura Isles finds herself being drawn into the club accidentally. Guilt by association. That association being that she was at the crime scenes. In summary, a bang-up good job and highly entertaining read. My next in this series will be #7. Can't wait! The one thing I can clearly attribute to my lowered enjoyment is the attention paid to the private life of Isles. Ever since we started to get glimpses into her private life, I’ve found myself somewhat disinterested in the events outside of the criminal elements of the story. I positively adore following Rizzoli’s life – I’ve become so invested, I always want more – yet I cannot bring myself to feel the same way about Isles. I’m not sure what it is about her in particular, but I’m nowhere near as invested in her life. this book reads like a horror novel but is a mystery nonetheless. The author does a nice job developing the characters and it is clear that this tendency began earlier in the series. I started with this book and it worked as a stand alone, but there are references to previous books in the series that loyal readers no doubt recognize. A Mephisto Club member, Dr. Joyce O'Donnell (psychiatrist), appears but not much "help" - she never liked Jane in the past.

The Mephisto Club is the sixth Rizzoli and Isles book, and if I’m being honest it is probably my least favourite thus far. It was still an enjoyable read, but I didn’t love it in the way I loved the five prior books. I’m unsure if this is because it has been so long since I read Vanish or whether it was the story itself but I’m hoping I’ll enjoy The Keepsake a lot more. A gruesome murder calls both Jane Rizzoli and Maura Isles out on Christmas Eve with the crime scene displaying numerous signs of devil worship. Upside down crosses, a pentagram, confronting displays of body parts and blood indicates that an extremely deranged individual has been at work. We do get to see fragments of the villain’s past. There is no mystery as to the identity of this perpetrator. Or is there? Is it one big red herring? Does the killer act alone? I’ll say one thing: Tess Gerritsen writes creepy very well.

The Mephisto Club leader is Antony Samson (neuropsychologist), additional members are: Edwina Felway, Oliver Stark & Gottfried Baum. Severed body parts from one murder are swap with another part at the next murder. A symbol is left on Maura's door causing her fear. Rizzoli’s parents are breaking up. A somewhat amusing diversion to the murder case to provide a few lighter moments. Meanwhile, the feelings Maura Isles for Father Daniel Brophy has been battling over the last couple of books are brought to a head here. This forbidden relationship is fraught with problems and threatens to drive a wedge between the friendship formed by Rizzoli and Isles. I have skipped #5, though, as it involves a crime in a hospital setting with a hostage situation, etc. I don't like those kinds of stories; I find them tedious with everyone kind of holding static in place.)I really didn't like this one all that much. I was actually able to put it down and walk away from it. On tony Beacon Hill, the club's acolytes devote themselves to the analysis of evil: Can it be explained by science? Does it have a physical presence? Do demons walk the earth? Drawing on a wealth of dark historical data and mysterious religious symbology, the Mephisto scholars aim to prove a startling theory: that Satan and his demons actually exist among us. I loved that Father Brophy and Dr. Maura Isles finally "got together," but I need this relationship to go beyond THE THORN BIRDS!! There has got to be a resolution to this plot line, and soon! The Latin word is scrawled in blood at the scene of a young woman's brutal murder: "I HAVE SINNED". It's a chilling Christmas greeting for Boston medical examiner Maura Isles and Detective Jane Rizzoli, who swiftly link the victim to controversial celebrity psychiatrist Joyce O'Donnell - Maura's professional nemesis and member of a secret society called "The Mephisto Club." A nice read with Rizzoli & Isles, Christmas Eve is spoiled in Boston. A Latin word "Peccavi" & crosses (written upside down) are left in blood on bodies. The Latin word means "I Have Sinned". Upside down crosses are against "Chtistanity".

With the grisly appearance of a corpse on the Mephisto Club's doorstep, it's clear that someone - or something - is indeed prowling the city. The members begin to fear the very subject of their study. Have they inadvertently summoned an evil entity from the darkness?

Many others have outlined the plot of THE MEPHISTO CLUB, so let me just say a few things: this is a great storyline, original, and handled deftly. The action-adventure is non-stop throughout the book, and although you know, basically from the beginning of the story, who the bad guy is, it doesn't stop the book from being interesting and intriguing. Both Detective Jane Rizzoli and Dr. Maura Isles drew the short straw this particular Christmas and witness the horrific murder scene. “Peccavi.” Who wrote the message?” And for whom is it meant? Soon there is another death, with more symbols. This one strikes close to home. What is the Mephisto Club? Can its leader, Anthony Sansone, be trusted? He seems to be everywhere, to be given wide berth by law enforcement. Yet Jane is wary. She has good reason. One of the members of Mephisto is Dr. Joyce O’Donnell, the neuropsychiatrist who testified in the court trial of Warren Hoyt, the man who tried to kill her and left her scarred for life. She has no love for Joyce O’Donnell, nor does she believe in devils or evil spirits. The main character becomes Lily Saul with a "evil" Christianity spirit & a "fallen" angel (Devil) after her? Her parents & Teddy (brother) killed. I’m not sure that I’d rank The Mephisto Club among my favorites of the series so far, but it did keep me interested, mostly because of the characters, frankly. I did appreciate what the author did with the themes, too. Her enthusiasm and training definitely make a difference! The Mephisto Club marks the 6th book in the Rizzoli and Isles series and takes us into the depraved mind of a killer brought up following beliefs and ideologies that are rejected by most. Be prepared for a series of gruesome crime scenes, a nicely contrived storyline and a continuance of the personal lives of both of the main characters.